The São Paulo Railway originally held a seven per cent. guarantee from the government, but this was long ago released. Its earnings have been so great in some years that the company did not know what to do with the surplus. It was allowed to pay only twelve per cent. to the stockholders, and the balance must either be paid to the state or the rates reduced. Unwilling to do either, this company has built fine stations where there are not more than a score of people, and has expended money in every way to keep down the net earnings under that sum. For six miles, soon after leaving Santos, the road climbs the Serra do Mar by means of cables. This is divided into four sections, each with its own power station. The trains are run in sections of three or four cars each, with an engine on each section. One section goes up as another comes down on each cable. A few years ago the traffic became so congested that it was necessary to construct a second roadway over the Serra, the one roadbed being considerably lower than the other. The mountainside is paved in some places to prevent landslides. Water courses and gullys of masonry and cement have been constructed everywhere to carry away the rain, which sometimes falls here with almost the force of a cloudburst. The road is well ballasted with a crushed stone found in the hills which is as hard as granite. The Luz station in the city of São Paulo, belonging to this company, is by far the finest station in South America, and one of the finest in the world. The railroad is owned by an English company, and the engines and equipment are distinctly English, and the entire track is built with the care and precision of an English railroad, with an overhead bridge or tunnel at each station to pass from the station on one side of the track to that on the other. The road has only one little branch in addition to the main line. CHAPTER XIII COFFEE Brazil is not only the land where the nuts come from, but it is also the land where the world’s coffee comes from as well. Two-thirds, and possibly three-fourths, of all the coffee used in the world is produced by this one great country. It matters little whether your grocer labels your coffee Mocha, Java, or any other name, it is a pretty safe guess to say that it was raised in Brazil. Richer than gold have proven the stretches of red soil where this berry grows. This soil occurs at intervals from the state of Pernambuco south almost to Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state. Of Brazil’s production three-fourths or more is grown in the state of São Paulo, thus making the production of this one state alone more than half of the world’s production. Considering the enormous quantity of coffee consumed, this product and its cultivation in Brazil becomes of world-wide interest.